Axl Rose: After all, what's wrong with your voice?

[Gibbo]

This paper has as aim to demystify something that afflicts many fans of Guns N 'Roses. After all, what would have happened to the vocalist Axl Rose?

While Axl has a good tone (2nd baritone), it can be stated that most of the time he sang out of his vocal range, often accompanied by the use of a very dangerous vocal technique for those who do not have total control of it, the drive. Perhaps the biggest mistake of his career was to have used excessive drive without first studying the technique.

Many singing teachers refuse to teach drive, because the probability of the student doing incorrectly is very large. The truth is, of course, singing, tends to use the drive through the canyon, when in fact it should be carried through the soft palate - sing with the drive through the canyon is suicide - but it is very difficult to do it properly, it is difficult to perform the technique by means of the soft palate, so much that most of the singers who used to drive impaired voice long term.

You can name a few rock singers who have total mastery of this technique, singers like Ronnie James Dio , for example, dominated masterfully.

At first, the drive train is through exercise audiologist called fry, which besides correcting the posture of the vocal fold, allows the practitioner gradually bring the drive to get the soft palate, taking it out of the throat and preventing damage future ace vocal cords. Besides the fry, there are other important for those who want to learn to sing drive sustainably exercises. Just look for a competent singing teacher and he will demystify the technique to the student.

The fact is that, to use the drive without prior study of technique, Axl severely damaged his vocal cords.Even in 1993 shows, we could already see Axl with a much weaker than in previous years voice.

The drive resulted in nodules (calluses) on the vocal cords of Axl. Possibly, this was the main reason for getting so many years without Axl sing live, between 1994 and 2001.

Between 1997 and 1999, he recorded most of the vocals on the live album Live Era in the studio and it was a noticeable change in his voice, but was still recognizable and the drive was still there, over dosed, it is true, but it was there.

In 2000 he played Dead Flowers with Gilby Clarke and his voice was still recognizable, he was still enjoying the drive.

Anyway, after this presentation with Gilby, Axl decided to undergo a surgery for the removal of these nodules. This type of surgery have as a repair, and calluses of the vocal cords leave the cleaner voice, and the rasp (strident, hoarseness) voice is dissipated briefly.

Exactly for this reason that in 2001, just one year after singing with Gilby and after the infamous surgical procedure, Axl showed up at the House of Blues and Rock in Rio, as well as throughout 2002 tour, singing with a cleaner voice, having been forbidden by doctors to use drive, otherwise you could incur irreparable damage to your voice.

As no longer had the power the drive gave him, Axl is forced to enhance other features such as their head voice, which has never been as consistent as your chest voice, moreover, also enhanced the use of belting .

Technically, Axl had improved, but the drive was and is very much needed for several songs from Guns since Axl dwelt fans of Guns N 'Roses to hear him sing with him.

About that time followed closely resembles that Axl was bombarded by criticism by the new way of singing, and perhaps this was the main reason for the cancellation of the 2002 tour.

Tired from criticism of his voice on tour 2001/2002, in 2004, he did another surgery, this time to give greater depth to his voice, after this procedure, its got a little more treble and deep bass, giving the false impression that his voice would have recovered the stridency of previous years.

Contrary medical advice, Axl went back to using drive in 2006, but his voice did not externava more natural stridency as in the past. Many times, he sounded hoarse, stressed, superficial and without the scope of yore.

Many people define as Axl sang well or not because he has used drive or not, but singing is not only used drive. Several factors have to be analyzed, extent, projection, depth, vibrato, head voice, chest voice, belting, etc..

Returning to use drive, was noticed clearly that he suffered at the shows, you could see his veins pop out of the canyon and it was feared for his health, but adore the sound that your voice was producing, returning to remember, vaguely true, the past.But it was not healthy, Axl never sang in a sustainable manner.

In 2010, many sets he sang well because he started to abuse the drive, using it on every song, but I repeat, singing is not only drive. Even with the drive, Axl found himself out of tune even more out of tune than in 2002, when he did not use the drive, but it remained tuned in good part, as can be seen in songs such as The Blues and Madagascar .

But truth be told, although not healthy for him, was spectacular for the fans, the voice that echoed Axl in 2010, because maybe it was the year in which his voice was closer to the heydays. This does not mean that she was very good as define. Importantly, even in the heyday of Axl's voice has never been characterized by technology, but by the power the drive gave him, was the feeling that Axl conquered fans.

Yes, it is true that many songs from Guns are, say, different and strange without drive.But this is because Axl fans accustomed to it, he did not think long term.

He worked hard in 2010 to keep the entire tour using the drive, but as stated earlier, did not sing in a sustainable way, and it was noticeable that used the drive through the canyon and not the soft palate, which proves that perhaps he has not found a teacher who had the courage to teach him the drive properly after their surgeries, for which he was subjected.

There is also evidence that, in addition to vocal cord nodules, throughout his career, Axl has also had reflux laryngopharyngeal reflux, same problem which affected numerous vocalists such as Edu Falaschi, for example.

It is possible that with every effort made between 2006 and 2010, Axl has acquired new nodules on his vocal cords, and that because of this, it has drastically reduced the use of the drive since 2011, having its apex in 2014, where his voice is clean most of the time during shows.

But unlike 2002, today Axl no longer have the breath that had at that time, so we can not support and sustain the notes, as in 2002 could, therefore, today, your voice sounds worse than in 2002, it sounds wound and without support.

As a result, the tendency is that the set list for the coming years bring only songs that are his original fabric, ie, songs that give him sing only with chest voice, songs like You Is not The First, Mr Bronwstone , Bad Obsession, Knockin 'On Heavens Door, Do not Cry, Doule Talkin Jive, Down On The Farm, It's So Easy, So Fine, etc..

In the studio, you can follow him struggling through the drive to present a result to remember its heyday in the next albums, but even the Chinese Democracy, it is noticeable that it drastically reduced the use of the drive. In proportion as his voice sounds more technical, it does not sound as powerful as ever before.

Axl himself acknowledged in an interview on That Metal Show, which exaggerated the recording some songs in the studio, as You Could Be Mine, for example. He said he thought: ¨ And now? How will I sing it live without damaging my voice? ¨. He did not think the long term, but in a general context worth it because his voice under the effect of the drive, even without the necessary technique to use it, the guy has spectacular songs.

But here the question begs: What Axl could do to re-submit satisfactory results in stages?

Well, first, he could slim down, giving it more breathing space for live performances.Losing weight would mean more endurance, ie, he could improve his live performance, which would help for him to keep a good support at times when needed to achieve higher grades.

Secondly, he could study in depth the technical drive to an expert teacher, and use it correctly and sustainably. Need to find a balance between all the vocal techniques, a balance between head voice, chest voice and drive, not to compromise its future. No need to sing with or without drive all the time he needs to find a balance.

Thirdly, he could undergo the surgical procedure called Voicelift, which is responsible for the rejuvenation of the vocal cords procedure. Singers like Steven Tyler and David Coverdale have already undergone this procedure a few years ago.

So if you're rock vocalist or intended to be, and is intended to drive under the influence of singing, deeply study the technique, take good care of your voice, avoid the cliche of drinking and smoking, be disciplined and keep up to date about human anatomy, especially in regard to the muscles of the vocal cords.

http://whiplash.net/materias/biografias/200844-gunsnroses.html

I posted this in a thread, I just thought id repost this for anyone who missed it.

Edited April 26, 2014 by Gibbo 27

[highvoltage]

If this is a supposed article explaining the change in Axl's voice and it doesn't contain the word "falsetto", it's garbage.

[Young_Gun]

A supposed 'insider' told me Axl had vocal chord surgery after the 2010 tour against medical advice. Not sure if it is totally true but would explain a hell of alot.

[highvoltage]

A supposed 'insider' told me Axl had vocal chord surgery after the 2010 tour against medical advice. Not sure if it is totally true but would explain a hell of alot.

Can you elaborate more on who made the claim? Are they reliable?

[GUNNER PT]

Is this, finally, the ultimate thread about Axl's voice?

[Smokin' Cigarettes]

This isn't a great mystery. He's in his 50's now, the rasp is going to be hit or miss now just like it has for the last 13 years.

If he sung with a clean voice when he was younger he would be fine now. He isn't the only singer that's done this to himself at all.

All these theories and reasons why is overthinking this shit. The man got older plain and simple.

People say that 'well he sounded great in 2010 though!'. Well when you're getting on up there in age, 4 years can make a huge difference.

[Nick83]

This is complete bullshit.

[Estranged Coma]

Excellent raspy voice ?

[RandallFlagg]

Axl is a genius, he keeps the forum alive against the current purgatory by not explaining reasons for his strange voice, like a smokescreen whilst he gathers money to fund the sequel.

[Guns n' Swedes]

I agree that his "youtube-voice" sucks for the most part lately, but this thread becomes a bit weird when crowds, duff and other band members say how awesome his voice is.

[RandallFlagg]

I wonder what he thought at the 02 if it sounds awesome now, he was probably in catatonic shock if his estimations are that warped.

[ChristianGNR]

Despiste the fact That is really a well written text, it has a lot of wrong info.

[liers]

Here's my issue... The vocals on most CD songs were recorded in 1998/1999... At the same time as the Live Era material, and most of those are clean while live era is raspy.

[Gibbo]

And aswell how he say 1993 was weaker then previous years thats crap.

Edited April 26, 2014 by Gibbo 27

[highvoltage]

Here's my issue... The vocals on most CD songs were recorded in 1998/1999... At the same time as the Live Era material, and most of those are clean while live era is raspy.

The re-recorded parts of Live Era are done in Axl's "new" voice.

[maynard]

In 2000 he played Dead Flowers with Gilby Clarke and his voice was still recognizable, he was still enjoying the drive.

Is there audio or video from this?

[SlashisGOD]

You is not the First. Gave me a laugh.

[RandallFlagg]

Sweet Woman Of My Own Possession is a superior title.

[saber_]

If you read about vocal cord polyps and what causes them, it's actually very plausible Axl's had them at some point. I wonder if this turned out to be true, would some of you feel the slightest bit guilty for being so harsh for saying things like "he's not even trying" or "he doesn't care" or other such things.
Vocal Cord Nodules and Polyps

[Tom2112]

I really wish Axl would care as much about his vocal health as people on this board obviously do. It does not take a genius to hear that he's struggling, yeah it might sound fine and dandy at a concert but a soundboard does not lie, it may not have all the effects that he might use live, reverb, delay etc. but it does show you that he's not sustaining notes, and he's quite pitchy... Axl should get his shit together. 2014 is by far his weakest year yet, I mean it's like bridge school on tour... is he sick? whats happening? seems to me he's just not putting the work in that a professional singer needs to do.

If he's sick, address it, say that you can't sing in the old way, say you need to take some time away to recuperate or get surgery... the last thing you want to do is continue on and hoping that things will magically get better. Practice, proper care and slimming down are the only things that will improve his performance

[Izzy_Stradlin_XX]

OH MY GOD!!! I'm sick of these "his voice is gone" threads!! You wanna know why his voice his gone? I'll tell ya in a very simple way.

Think about this - What happens to a guitarist tat plays for 5 years a lot and then stops playing for another 5 years? HE FORGETS HOW TO PLAY.

Same shit with his voice!! Axl's voice is gone because he DOESN'T PRACTICE. There, I did it for you, now close this shit.

[saber_]

2010 would like a word with you there, chief.

[Izzy_Stradlin_XX]

2010 would like a word with you there, chief.

I'm not gonna discuss Axl's voice throughout the years, you wanna know why? Because this shit didn't start with new guns, it started in '92 when he stopped going to the goddamn rehearsals. Apparently, he was young enough to recover it in late '92 and his voice was perfect in 1993. Axl's voice completely changed after AFD, became deeper, just listen to Lies. Axl's vocal pinnacle was reached in 1993. All downhill from there.

[RandallFlagg]

His voice was sketchy at the start of 2009 but you could follow the progression and it had strength in patches and he got in shape then consistently blew the roof of stadiums, I haven't seen any improvement lately which is the worrying part.

[Chewbacca]

Ok, so he did a surgery. Time to look for a new voice identity.